A rat's tail
by Beats S
Summary: Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Albus Dumbledore arrive at the Potter house after 'someone' attacked. What they find, is not what they like.
1. Storm before the calm

Hi everyone, thanks for reading this piece of fanfiction. I'd like to say a few words before you start to read. This is my first piece of fanfiction ever, so don't start flaming if you don't like the style in which this story is written. I also take my time to think about chapters before I post them, so don't expect weekly updates. Finally, as I mentioned before, I'm only a beginning writer so constructive criticism is always welcome. Enjoy your reading.

I swear on my life and my magic that I do not own the people appearing in this story. Even most of the story-line isn't mine, you can thank J.K. Rowling for everything concerning Harry Potter

A RAT'S TAIL

1

* * *

Harry Potter was no ordinary boy, au contraire, he was exceptional in a lot of ways. For starters, he was a wizard. This made him amongst the 10% of the world that has wizarding blood in their veins. But even under wizards he was special because he defeated the dark lord Voldemort. No-one knows how he did it, not even himself as he was only 1 year old when the fate of the world came crashing down on him.

It was Halloween's eve and a dark cloaked figure made its way in a deserted street. One would say that it was coincidentally deserted, but he knew better. He had sent his most trusted minion on a scouting mission to set up some nasty wards around the area he had to be in. Those black wards prevented anyone without the dark mark to enter the area by killing them and teleporting the corpses to the Godric's Hollow outpost of the Dark Army. It also prevented people inside the wards to exit them. Ideal wards for the special mission he was going to fulfill. He stopped in the middle of the street at number 17 and waited.

For any normal person it would seem that he stared upon a normal house with such a hatred that it scared them. The cloaked figure however wasn't just standing still. He went over the events of the past year, particular events that would have led to his downfall if he didn't act. The inhabitants of that house were the fiercest fighters on the battlefield. The man could last longer in a duel against him than anyone else, except the old madman of course. The strength of the man was equaled by the woman's restorative powers. Together they were the rock on which his sea of Death Eaters collapsed. As if this wasn't enough to assassinate them, one of his lower minions reported that a prophecy had been made about their child. The child would become more powerful than his parents if given the right motivation to do something.

The figure had contemplated a lot about the prophecy and came to a conclusion: the kid must die when he is still young and untrained. Little did he know about the actions he set in motion.

He broke the Fidelius ward around the house without the family inside noticing it. Wanting to give them a chance he blasted the front door through a wall with a lot of noise. The man came investigating what was going on. Deeming it safe in his own house and not having heard the wards collapse he left his wand in the living room. He only realized his mistake when he saw a wand pointed at him from the cloaked figure. He had only time to shout "Lily, He's here !" before he went down with a flash of green light.

The cloaked man smiled, the hardest part of his mission was done. He entered the living room, hoping to find the woman and the kid, but found it as deserted as the streets. Hearing the cracking of footsteps above his head, he marched towards the stairs and made his way up. Checking all the rooms, he found one that was warded to keep outsiders from getting into the room. He stripped down the ward and upon entering the room he felt a strange wave of force emanating from a cradle.

The cradle was protected by a woman with a fierce look in her eyes, revealing that she too wouldn't join him for all the money in the world. She refused to move away and seemed to be concentrating on something. The cloaked figure threw off his hood, so he could see the look of fear in the eyes of the woman. He was disappointed when his eyes still met the strangely fierce look in her eyes and began to get angry. His aura flared darkly and the kid started to cry. In a motherly reaction the woman nudged her head slightly so she could see what was causing the kid to cry. This was the moment he had waited for and he struck swiftly as a snake. The last thing Lily saw was a huge fist knocking her into a wall unconscious.

The dark figure began circling the cradle, chanting in a strange language while he prepared a ritual. Only focusing on his ritual, the figure missed the quick beam of gold that had flickered between mother and son. To complete his ritual he cast the same green light as before. Just before the light would touch the cradle, a shield of gold erected and reflected the green light back to its caster. Too astonished to move, the dark figure took the curse in the head. As his soul separated from his body, it sought a new body to reside in. He carefully approached the cradle and touched his finger to the boy's forehead. One moment he thought it had worked, because he felt the power of the boy. The other moment he was pushed away by a force wave that shot from the boy. The wave drained his magical reserves and went on until he passed out and lost track of where he flew. The last thing he saw was a huge tower on four feet that went very high in the air. The dark figure was however still climbing, indicating that he wouldn't land anywhere soon.

So began a new era in the wizarding history of the world.

To be continued...

* * *

I'd like some feedback on this chapter, as it will improve my further writings. Just add a comment about something you liked or disliked takes a maximum of five minutes and helps me a lot. Thanks already for making it till the end of the first chapter. Greets, Beats


	2. Memories

I swear on my life and my magic that I do not own the people appearing in this story. Even most of the story-line isn't mine, you can thank J.K. Rowling for everything concerning Harry Potter

* * *

2

Albus Dumbledore was not a happy man. His victory over Grindelwald had been overwhelmed by a new threat that rose under the name of Lord Voldemort. This new dark lord outclassed Grindelwald in every single aspect. He had more tactical insight, had gathered more forces and possessed more raw magic than his blonde predecessor. Dumbledore himself could barely keep himself up in a duel against Voldemort and every time they met, the old man lasted a little shorter. He knew it was only a matter of time before Britain would succumb to the will of Voldemort and he could do nothing to prevent it. His only hope was this prophecy made against Voldemort and the child of the Potters. Once he heard the prophecy he had requested a meeting with Lily and James to discuss the protection around their house. After a long discussion they all agreed to erect a fidelius ward around the potter's house. They would appoint one of their life-long friends as a keeper, namely Peter Pettigrew. They knew there was a traitor in their group, so when they discussed it with the order of the phoenix they told everyone that Sirius Black would be the secret keeper.

Everything seemed perfectly settled until the ward alert went off in Dumbledore's office. Albus checked and found a sinister ward erected around a large part of Godric's Hollow. He informed Peter and Sirius and the three apparated just outside the wards. Using his aura, Dumbledore made the wards visible and Sirius started to dismantle them. After 15 minutes the last layer fell and they ran towards Potter mansion. What they found there shocked them all. The door was gone and they saw a corpse lying in the entrance hall. Before they could enter, they heard an enormous explosion and something flew away at high speed through the air. The whole top floor of the house was vaporised because of the amount of power unleashed. 'I think we just witnessed yet another major event in the history of magic' Dumbledore whispered. Too shocked to say anything, his two companions glanced at eachother and fainted.

While Sirius and Peter were unconscious, Albus started checking the house. It was, after all, better to know what exactly happened in the house. It was even better to explore without annoying servants running everywhere and making a great drama, according to Albus. The lack of damage to the house, if you ignored the door, was disturbing for the powerful wizard. Apparently the assassin knew the house and wanted his actions to be secret. A quick diagnostic spell later and Albus' suspicions became reality. Tom had entered the Potter domain and killed everyone. He climbed the stairs and saw the room with the cradle. Lying in the cold air was a little baby, but that wasn't the first thing Albus noticed. The air in the room seemed to fizzle with power, sometimes even small cracks could be heard.

In the far corner of the room something moved. Upon closer inspection Albus noticed it was Lily, the mother of the child. She knew she had only a few minutes left in the realm of the living so she wanted to spend them useful. "Albus,", she whispered," Take good care of my boy, make sure he becomes a good person, and don't leave him with my sister. You know she hates me so she'll just reflect that on little Harry."

"Don't worry', Albus said confidently," I'll take care of it personally. Petunia will receive a letter to explain everything, I'm sure she will understand the situation."

After hearing Albus utter those words, Lily dropped down on the floor, her heavy breath faded.

Albus sent James and Lily's bodies to their already prepared grave in Godric's Hollow and then went back to Sirius and Peter. After a quick renervate they entered the house and found the cradle with little Harry in it.

Sirius immediately volunteered to adopt Harry into the Black family, but Dumbledore refused him to do that. "Harry would go crazy if he would constantly be around all the dark objects in Grimmauld Place. It's for his own good that we send him to Lily's sister, that way he'll learn what it's like to be a normal boy before being honoured as a hero."

Sirius countered that Petunia's family was worse than normal , resulting in a heated discussion between the two wizards. Nobody noticed Peter, as he was mourning the deaths of the persons he loved the most. Peter went to the cradle and conjured a toy for little Harry. After all, the kid had been through a lot this evening, so Peter took it upon him to distract the kid a little. Sinking away in his thoughts, Peter went back to his first meeting with James.

He was sitting by himself on the Hogwarts Express while suddenly the door opened. A boy with messy black hair entered and asked him if he could stay in the compartment. Peter didn't mind and soon they started talking. Apparently, the boy was James Potter, heir to the Potter Fortune and the 'Lord' position of his father. Peter was interested in being friends with such an important person in the magical community so he stayed friendly, even when James started ranting about some guy named 'Snivellus' who had annoyed him.

Hours passed and another boy practically fell in their compartment. James recognized the boy as Sirius Black and suddenly Peter found himself between two boys who came from very influential families. Hours of chatting later, the train arrived and the students went with the boats to the castle, thinking about what awaited them at the majestic castle that had appeared. After a short walk through the lower levels of the castle, they arrived in a huge hall. There, they were instructed to wait until someone would instruct them further. As it was common for young people, they started talking to each other. Sirius and James immediately found some people they knew and left Peter alone while they caught up with them. Peter, a boy who had been lacking social skills, gathered all of his courage and did the thing he dreaded the most. He knew he had to make at least some friends to get through school, otherwise his life would be hell for the next seven years, so he started talking to the people in his vicinity.

Peter sought for a good conversation starter and figured that, as they all were waiting to be sorted, the house question was safe territory to ask about. He asked his neighbor what house he would like to be in.

"Well, I think I have the sly and mysterious aspects of a slytherin, but I also seem to be smart enough to be considered as a ravenclaw. The hat will have a tough time with sorting me." the slightly smug boy said.

"Yes, but where would you like to be sorted? You do have a choice, don't you?"

"Hmm, I don't think so, the hat looks into your mind to see where you belong so you are always sorted in the right house. Anyways, I'd like to be part of ravenclaw. I heard they have a massive library in their tower so they don't have to walk all the way to the one on the third floor. Where do you think you'll end up?"

"I know it sounds strange, but I'd like to be sorted into hufflepuff. After all, what's better than some friends to support you? Oh, by the way, what did you say your name was?"

"Remus Lupin, nice to meet you."

"Peter Pettigrew, pleased to me-"

Suddenly they heard a shriek from one of the girls at the end of the group. As they turned, they saw no less than four ghosts floating through the massive walls of the castle.

Before they could react, a stern looking professor herded them into the great hall.

" Welcome to Hogwarts, young students. Tonight will be an important one, as you will get sorted into your house. During your years at Hogwarts, your house will act as a family, so you'd better get acquainted with them as soon as possible. The sorting itself is very simple. When you hear your name, you go up in front, pick up the hat and put it on. The hat will then tell you where you belong and you go to the corresponding table. Everything clear? Off we go then."

And off she went. The professor opened a small door near the teacher's end of the great hall and entered. The students followed after a second of hesitation, only to stand dazzled when they saw a huge room filled with students who were looking at them expectantly. They regained their composure as they heard the professor calling out the first student to be sorted.

"Abbott, Cornelius"

Cornelius was sorted into hufflepuff, who greeted him as if they had been friends forever. The reactions of the houses weren't all like that though. The ravenclaws interrogated everyone who joined their house, the slytherins explained the power hierarchy in the house and the gryffindors generally screamed their lungs out whenever somebody joined their house.

"Black, Sirius"

Sirius stepped confidently towards the chair, sat there for five minutes seemingly debating with the hat and eventually got sorted into gryffindor.

"Lupin, Remus"

Remus walked calmly to the chair. After a minute he was sent surprisingly to the table of gryffindor. With a confused look he started to look for other first years to talk to.

The group shrank and Peter started doubting about preferring hufflepuff. He already knew Sirius and Remus so he would know at least two people when he joined that house. Too bad he couldn't just choose to sit there.

"Pettigrew, Peter"

Anxiously Peter went to the chair, almost falling in the process. He put on the hat and heard a voice inside his head.

"You could fit into gryffindor, because of your courage to instantly befriend anyone, and you would do well in hufflepuff, because you're very loyal to your friends, so which one will it be?"

"I get to choose?" Peter thought flabbergasted

"Yes, you can, please hurry up" the voice said impatiently

"I choose gryffindor"

"Then GRYFFINDOR, it will be" the hat concluded.

He went to sit next to Remus and Sirius and saw James also sorted into gryffindor. After a quick high-five they followed the sorting without very much interest, as they were more thinking about what would follow.

After what seemed like an eternity the sorting stopped and the headmaster stood up in front of the whole hall.

" Good evening, students, and welcome to Hogwarts. Before you can satisfy the growling of your stomach, I would like to mention some things. First of all, the first years and some others who would do well to remember, should be reminded that the forbidden forest is named that way because you are forbidden to enter it without supervisor. Secondly, Mr. Filch added some new 'evil goods' to his list. The list, consisting of 247 items, is always present in Mr. Filch's office at the ground floor of the castle. And finally, I would like to present to you the newest addition to our teaching team. Mr. Slughorn will be teaching potions to all years, please welcome him with great respect. Our beloved potions teacher, Miss Prince, has chosen to teach Defense against the dark arts this year. She will only stay for one more year because she wishes to pursue her dreams to become a potions master. Now, before you all start muttering about how I keep rambling about school business, I will finish this boring old speech with only three words: enjoy your meals!"

- to be continued -


End file.
